Unloading mechanism for ships



Nov. 26, 1929. J. R. sENslBAR UNLOADING MECHANISM FOR SHIPS 's sheets-sheet 1 Filed Oct. 12. 1927 mm). *mw ww 1,. .....Im ./WNK.

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Nov. 26, 1929. J. R. sENslBAR UNLOADING MECHANISM FOR SHIPS Filed oct. i2, 1927 5 sheets-sheet 2 @Zw f Nov. 26, 1929. J. R. sENslBAR UNLOADING MECHANISM FOR SHIPS Filed Oct. l2, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 v l .N\ 1? Q Iv l Fatented Nov. 26, 1929 JACOB n. snNsIBAR, on CHICAGO, rLLiiiToI's UNLOADING 'MEGHANISM FOR Sl'CvI-IVSY Application led October 12, 1927'. Serial No. 225,631.

This invention relates tounloading mechanisml for ships and the like and isv particularly intended to handle loose material such as coal',l grain, ore, sand', gravel, stone and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide such a mechanismKV which wil-ll efficiently remove the loose material from the bottom oi' the hold and which at the same time takes up relatively little of the hold space.

This and other objects, as wil-l hereinafter appear, are accomplished by thisinvention which is fully described in the following speciiication andv shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section of the forward part of ai ship embodyi'ng the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line 2 of' Fig. 1;'

Fig. 3Jis a partial section on the line 3-.3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the lower sprocket of the bucket elevator;

l; ig. 54 isa similar view of the top sprocket; an

Fig. Gis a partial front elevation of three lengths of' the chain of the bucketr elevator, one oi"v the'lengths showing the bucket removed.

The embodiment illustrated comprises' a ship having a metal hull 10 and a bottom 11 formingaballast chamber 12. This chamber is-provided with a series of spaced transverse girders 13 which are interrupted to permit the tunnel 14C to be set down part-way into the chamber 12. This tunnel is made with steel sides 15 and a bottom 16 which are riveted in place and made water tight so as t0 enable the chamber 12 to `hold the ballast water.

The tunnel 14 is provided with a suitable stiffening frame-work 17 so that when the whole is assembled, the ships bottom isas stro-ng and rigid as itwas before the bottom 11 and the girder 13 were cut to make room for the tunnel 14;

A belt conveyor is located in the tunnel and has an upper strand 18 carried on suitable rollers 19 and a lower strand 20. This conveyor, as shown in Fig. 1, runsl over a head vpulley 21 and delivers to av cross conveyor 22 which in turn deliversto an inclined: belt conveyor' 23; Thelatter delivers through a hopper 24 to a conveyor 25 carried upon a booml (not shown)- which is pivotally mounted to swing about a vertical axis passingthrough the center ont the hopper 24". It' will be understood that there are two of the belt conveyors 18 and' 22, one at 4each sidefof the ship. The two cross conveyors 22 deliver to thebelt conveyor from opposite sides. The topl of the tunnel 1li is providedwith a series o hoppers 26V as shown in Figs. 1 and 2', which extend substantially throughout the length oft the tunnel, the bottom of' each hopperbeing provided with a gate valve 27 whiclithas a leg (not shown) which Vmeshes with a pinion which is driven by ymeans of a hand wheel 28., the gate valve 27 being slidably mountedlin the trame 29 which serves as an apron for guiding the loose material as it falls on the conveyor belt 18. Thus, as 'one of the sliding valves 27' is drawn back by means of, its hand wheel 23, loose material will'iiow through the opening on the upper strand 13 of the conveyor which then carries the material forwardvand dumps it on the' cross conveyor22. The material then passes out of the ship on the conveyor 23 and is delivered to a point alongside the shipy by the boom conveyor 25. n

' The means tor picking up. the loose material at the sides of the tunnel le and below the level ot its.y top will now be described. This consists essentially of two elevator legs 30, one on each side of the tunnel, the two being pivotally` mounted at their upper ends on an elevator truck iframe 31 which is mounted by means or". wheels 32l on tracks 33 which are carried at the upper corner ot the tunnel. leas shown 0n the right-hand side of Fig; 2. The elevator truck frame 31 is driven by meansy of a motor 3e actingthrough a suitable gear re-y e ioo Each elevator leg consists of the frame 37 which is journalled on the head shaft 38 and which ycarries at its lower end a shaft upon 38 being driven through a suitable gear reduction by the motor 42.

The sprockets shown in Figs. 4 and 5 are preferably six-sided and have ledges 43 adapted to receive end bars 44 of the chain while the backs of the bars 45 are adapted to engage the faces 46 of the tail sprocket. Shoulders 47 at the side of the ledges 43 position the lchain links on the sprocket. A bucket 41 of the general form shown in Fig. 3 is secured to each pair of the chain links 45, these links being secured on cross bars 48 by means of securing pins or bolts 49 which pass through the bosses on the ends of the links 45. The head sprocketl 40 is similar to the tail sprocket 39,1but is made in the form of a hollow box with ledges 43a, the shoulder 47 n eX- tending across so as to fill practically all of the space between the buckets,'the shoulder 47 serving as an apronover which the succeeding bucket dumps its material.

The lower end lof the elevator leg 30 may be raised and lowered by means of a motor 50 acting through a gear reduction V51 upon the rope 52. Ther housing of each elevator leg 30 is `made of sheet metal and is considerably larger than the size of the elevator buckets 41 so as to permit any large chunks of coal or the like to pass therethrough. An elevator of this kind must often be fed forward into a large mass of coal which sometimes hangs up and then falls suddenly in a larve mass on the front of the elevator, thereby tending to cause it to stall. To prevent this' I have provided the lower end of the housing, which is box-shaped with an arcuate hood 58 which is pivot'ally mounted at 53a at each side to the elevator frame. A rope 54 passing over a windlass 55 enables the operator to raise and lower the hood 52 at will, thereby increasing "or decreasing the amount Vof the loose material fed to the elevator. Y

ByY reference to Fig. `2 it willfbe seen that two preferably vertical portions 56, the high straight hopper like portion of what it now the ships bottom, lies on each side of the elevator. This straight portion assists very materially in causing the elevator to clean up the material at the sides of the tunnel. ,Without these straight portions much of the material will spill out of the sides of the buckets and will be left in the bottom of these longitudinal channels 56a to be removed by hand. These straight vertical portions assist greatly in forcing Athe material into the buckets as 'Y they pass around the lowersprocket.

The elevator dumps into a chute 57 which delivers to the cross conveyors 58 which are driven by means of sprocket chains 59 by gearing (not shown) from the motor 42.`

rIhese cross conveyors deliver through the hoppers 26 to the long belt conveyor 18 in the tunnel.

Mounting the rails 33 on top of the frame of the tunnel 14, greatly simplifies the entire elevator construction and permits of the use of avery much smaller elevator. By this arangement a trouble is avoided which might arise where the rails 33 carried directly by the ships frame such as might come about through anywarping or twisting of the main frame of the ship.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a room 60 is provided at the forward end of the tunnel 14 for lhousing the elevator and this room has a door 61 which is provided at its upper portion with hinges 62 about which yit can be raised to permit the elevator to enter the room 60 after which the door 61 is closed. f

While I have shown and described but a single embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications., Changes therefore in they construction and arangement may be made which do not ldepart from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a ship having-a bottom spaced from the hull forming a ballast chamber, a compartment for loose material eX- tending longitudinally of the boat, a tunnel extending longitudinally through -said compartment, and a conveyor in said tunnel for removing loose materialk fed by gravity through the top of said tunnel, said tunnel being located partly below the level of said bottom and partly within the space of theV ballast chamber, the frame of said tunnel serving to replace the stiness removed by cutting said bottom.

2. In combination, aship having a bottom spaced from the hull forming a ballast chamber, a compartment for loose material extending longitudinally of the boat, a tunnel extending longitudinally through said compartment, a conveyor in said tunnel for removing loose material Vfed by gravity through the top of said tunnel, said. tunnel being located partly below the level of said bottom and partly within the space of the' ballast chamber, the frame of said tunnel serving to replace the stiffness removed by cutting said bottom, and means for removing loose material at the sides of and below the level of the top of said tunnel and for feeding it to said-conveyor.

8. In combination, a ship having a bottom spaced from the hull forming a ballast chamber, a compartment for loose material eX- tending longitudinally of the` boat, ajtunnellos extending longitudinally through said compartment, a conveyor in said tunnel for removing loose material fed by gravity through the top of said tunnel, said tunnel being located partly belowy the level of said bottom and partly within the space of the ballast chamber, the frame of said tunnel servingY to replace the .stiifness removed by cutting said bottom, and means for removing loose material at the sides of and below the level of the top of said tunnel and for feeding it to said conveyor, the last mentioned means being carried on said tunnel.

4. In combination, a ship having a bottom spaced from the hull forming a ballast chamber, a compartment for loose material extending longitudinally of the boat, a tunnel extending longitudinally through said compartment, a conveyor in said tunnel for removing loose material fed by gravity through the top of said tunnel, said tunnel being located partly below the level of said bottom and partly within the space of the ballast chamber, the frame of said tunnel serving to replace the stiffness removed by cutting said bottom, means for removing loose material at the sides of and below the level of the top of said tunnel and for feeding it to said conveyor, rails on the top of said tunnel, and a truck on said rails and supporting said removing means, whereby the latter is carried on said tunnel.

5. In combination, a ship having a compartment adapted to hold loose material, a tunnel extending longitudinally through said compartment, a conveyor in said tunnel, ates in the top of said tunnel for feeding oose material to said conveyor, a track on top of said tunnel, a truck operable on said track, and an elevator operably carried on said truck having means for elevating loose material at the sides of said tunnel and below the level of the top of the tunnel and for delivering said material to said conveyor.

6. In combination, a ship having a compartment for loose material, a tunnel extending longitudinally thereof, a conveyor within said tunnel, gate valves in the top of said tunnel for feeding loose material by gravity to said conveyor, longitudinally disposedL channels ,for holding loose material at the sides of said tunnel, an elevator adapted to travel in said channel and to convey loose material from said channel to said conveyor, the sides of said channels sloping inwardly and terminating at the bottom in portions Which lie adjacent to and parallel to the lower portion of said elevator to cause the material to be forced into said elevator.

7 In combination, a ship having a compartment for loose material, a tunnel extending longitudinally thereof, a conveyor within said tunnel, gate valves in the topof said tunnel for feeding loose material by gravity to said conveyor, longitudinally disposed channels for holding loose material at the sides of said tunnel, an elevator adapted to the material to be forced into said elevator.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto setr my lpand and seal this 17 th day of September, 192

JACOB R. SENSIBAR. 

